Surprise Visitor
by Evildevilangel
Summary: Rachel gets a surprise visit from an unwanted visitor. Sweet and fluffy.


**WARNING: SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 2.08 (FURT) and minor spoilers for 2.09 (Special Education). Inspired by Trapped in Icy Flame and my term paper.**

There was something truly fabulous about dancing without thinking. Not fabulous in the too-many-sparkles-and-glitter sense that Kurt would use it, but simply in that old school sense of lightness and joy. Rachel giggled, just letting it bubble up from that place at the top of her stomach, and continued flouncing about to Katy Perry. She knew it was like junk food only worse, degrading her repertoire by its mere existence, but it felt so good to just bounce up and down with her hands in the air. "Daisy Dukes, bikinis on top-"

"Wow, Berry, are you twelve?"

Rachel screamed, wrapping her arms around herself as if she had been caught naked. "Do you understand that you're trespassing right now? Which is very, _very _illegal and my fathers are right down-"

The boy sitting on her bedroom windowsill laughed. "Chill. I'm just here on an errand from the boys."

"I don't care if you were sent here from God himself! This is my room!" She considered pushing him out the window, but then realized she probably couldn't actually budge him. And, even if she succeeded, prison wasn't exactly a breeding ground for Broadway talent.

"Not like I haven't seen it before." Puck shrugged and finished climbing into the room. "Still frilly as ever."

Rachel felt her face heat up. "You didn't seem to mind the… _frills_… last time you were here."

"Is this you asking to make out again?" He sauntered over, crowding her personal space without laying a finger on her.

"NO!" screeched Rachel, flinching when she realized her dads were still downstairs and would probably panic if she kept yelling. "I am never doing that again."

Puck raised an eyebrow. "_Never? _Really? With _anyone?_"

"You knew what I meant," she said, swatting his shoulder. "_Never doing that again with you_."

Puck pouted, rubbing his shoulder. "Lay off the physical abuse, Berry. Don't shoot the messenger or whatever, remember?"

Rachel nervously smoothed her hair. "Oh. Yes. Messenger. Well, what's your message?"

"Well…" He glanced about nervously, before moving to perch on her desk. "The guys were just worried about how you were taking the whole Kurt leaving thing. I know you two weren't close, but you were all over Finn about protecting him and then…"

"Oh." Rachel's face fell. "Yeah. I mean, I'm glad he's safe now."

"But?"

"Well, it leaves us down a member and that was just irresponsible," she snapped, staring at the floor. "And he didn't even give us a chance to help him," she added quietly. To her dismay, she began to sniffle. Suddenly, she felt strong arms around her.

"Guys like to look after themselves. It's like a mental disorder or something."

Rachel sniffled harder. "I didn't even know he _needed _help," she whispered. "Not really."

Puck stroked her hair lightly, right behind her ear, and felt her relax. "He's alright now. He knows how to take care of himself."

"You really think so?" She looked up at him with those tear-filled eyes like something out a movie.

"Yeah," he said softly, rubbing her back softly with his other hand. "He's okay now."

Rachel pulled back slightly, wrinkling her nose. "You're being nice to me again."

He shrugged. "Jews, nice, repaying God, remember?"

"Oh. Right. So this is just because I'm Jewish?" She bit her lip in that way that meant _I'm not sure I believe you_.

"Totally," he said confidently.

"Good," she said, snuggling back into his arms for a moment.

Puck rested his chin on her head for a moment, realizing she smelled exactly like the last time he had held her. Finally, he pulled away, wiping the tear streaks from her cheeks with one thumb. "I should probably get going before your dads freak out."

Rachel stared at the floor, but nodded. "Yeah."

"I'll see you at school," he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead before disentangling himself. "And you can put this on if you need to cheer up." He pulled a CD from the pocket of his hoodie and left it on her bed before climbing out the window.

"Yeah. See you at glee tomorrow," she said, trying to sound a perky as possible. Shaking off the strange, empty feeling, she picked up the CD on the bed. It was a plain case simple marked "Bouncy Berry" in Puck's messy scrawl. Anxiously, she put it in her CD player.

"_I know a place, where the grass is really greener," _it sang.

Rachel laughed, dumbfounded, as she wiped the last of her tears away. She began to sing with the CD, and by the end of the song was back to dancing. Somehow, it made her feel more warm and loved than it had before.

All "California Gurls" lyrics are the property of Katy Perry. Please review!


End file.
